Blue Goose Church is one of the many churches in the Austin/Travis County area that have been long forgotten as time faded away as urbanization grew out towards Manor, Texas. The history of the Blue Goose Church has been long forgotten. Not many people known of or remember anything about the Blue Goose Church except for the fact that Blue Goose Church was at the intersection of Blue Goose Road & US 290 where city boundaries of Austin/Manor meet and the church’s existence was from the pre-2000 era.
Exact year for this church called Blue Goose Church was built or established is currently unknown, but most definitely the church was built sometime during the 20th century. There were no specifications as to what Christian denominations attended religious serves there. There could be a possibility Blue Goose Church was a Catholic Church. However that has yet to be confirmed by local news.
Blue Goose Church was named after Blue Goose Road for namesake. The congregation thought it would be a good idea to name the church after the road. So the name Blue Goose Church stood out and stuck inside peoples minds.
After upon farther research with help of search engines Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and DuckDuckGo, a hit in the search results for “Blue Goose Church” with a link to the geocaching.com website. The geocaching.com website reports that the Blue Goose Church was indeed an African American church in 1935. The race or ethnicity of churchgoers were specifically black/African American due to its proximity towards Manor.
(Although many African American citizens who lived in Travis County lived outside the city limits of Austin attended other churches.)
J.D. Carlton and his wife Minnie Carlton owned the land were the Blue Goose Church once stood prior to 1928. So it is possible this church was built or established during early turn of the 20th century. This church could have been built or established at the turn of the 19th century. J.D. Carlton and his wife Minnie Carlton could have possibly attended this church.
An Azimuth mark was set on a bronze disk outside the property on the date of 01/01/1935. (This was reported inside a geological survey prepared by Coast and Geodetic Survey dating back to 01/01/1935.) The marker was set within a distance in 116 feet of the church. Since then a few more were added. So this means this church was built before the Great Depression era. (Texas Highway Department reported reference marks are in good condition in 1937.)
A 1952 aerial map shows the Blue Goose Church clearly existed. The roof and building were still in place then. The church building was still standing. A parking lot in front of the church is visible from public view on US 290 and Blue Goose Road. The roof was clearly in tact with no holes, leaks, or structural errors at that time. This church building was sitting perfectly solid as the building was reported to be in good condition. In 1953, the building was reported to be in good condition.
Although a 1956 USGS topographical map of the Austin East Quadrangle states the Blue Goose Church was abandoned. However from aerial map of the Austin East Quadrangle panning towards Blue Goose Church has roof that is clearly in tact with no holes, leaks, or structural errors. The church building was still standing.
A 1964 aerial map shows the church is clearly abandoned due to nature such as vegetation and shrubbery browning brown the property. The untrimmed grass indicates Blue Goose Church was clearly abandoned. Trees had grown in front of the church visible from street view. It is possible by 1965 or prior to 1965 that J.D. Colton had deeded and conveyed land to TXDOT (Texas Highway Department) and USDOT in order for them to expand US 290.
A 1967 aerial map shows US 290 being expanded and paved over where the Blue Goose Church formally once stood. So by 1967 the Blue Goose Church no longer existed by then. All remnants were destroyed by highway construction. The building itself was no longer extant on the 1967 aerial map the Austin East Quadrangle or the USGS topographical map of the Austin East Quadrangle.
In 1967, Blue Goose Church was demolished to make right-of-way for US 290’s expansion in order to widen the highway lanes. TXDOT and USDOT apparently bought out the land property from the church in order to widen the highway lanes for US 290. Property of Blue Goose Church was existence has been paved over by highway expansion for right of way purposes in order for lane expansion on US 290.
A 1971 USGS topographical map of the Austin East Quadrangle no longer shows the Blue Goose Church. So clearly the Blue Goose Church had been demolished. The building itself on the 1971 USGS topographical map of the Austin East Quadrangle indicates the building is no longer visible or is no longer in tact.
Today, the Blue Goose Church no longer exists and the church building is no longer extant. Toll road for US 290 has expanded over towards where the Blue Goose Church building formally once was. Its existence has been paved over by highway expansion of US 290.
Blue Goose Church was located at the intersection of Blue Goose Road & US 290, Austin, Texas, US 78754.
*USGS is United States Geological Survey.
So happy to find this info. I was born in 1952 and grew up in Manor. Remembered the Blue Goose Church - we'd always pass it when we'd go into Austin to shop (no Walmart in Manor in those days!). But couldn't remember when it finally disappeared and didn't know much about it, except that it was a black/African American church. Wish someone had a picture of it. Thanks again for this story.
ReplyDeleteWe have yet to find a photo of the Blue Goose Church. Not much information can be found about this church.
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